Sales growth softened at John Lewis last week as warm weather and the opening
of the London Olympics sapped demand, but half-year turnover jumped 12.9pc.

Sales growth softened at John Lewis last week as warm weather and the opening of the London Olympics kept shoppers away, but as demand for Games merchandise jumped, the retailer hailed an "exciting week ahead".

John Lewis said sales had risen 6.2pc in the week to 28 July, slower than the 7.5pc increase in the same week last year, as a spell of sunshine and the opening of London's Games sapped demand.

Earlier this week, figures from Experian suggested that shops in central London witnessed a drop in visitors at the start of the Olympic Games. The research group said the number of people going to stores on Friday ahead of the opening ceremony was 10.4pc lower than a year ago.

There have been concerns among some retailers that the Olympics is damaging trade as people put off by warnings about disruption caused by the Games have avoided visiting the capital. Hugh Robertson, the Olympics minister, on Thursday said that retailers who say trade has been affected by the Games should have been better prepared.

Sales in John Lewis' flagship Oxford Street store in London were down 8.7pc last week compared to a fall of 0.5pc in the same week last year. But, John Lewis highlighted an 86pc jump week-on-week in demand for London 2012 merchandise, which the retailer said augured well for "an exciting week ahead".

Electronics and home technology goods saw sales leap 22.9pc and John Lewis pointed to "excellent performances in Menswear and Sports in the run-up to 'the Greatest Show on Earth'".

Andy Street, John Lewis managing director, added that the retailer's first-half sales had been "hugely encouraging". "At +12.9pc we substantially outperformed a slow market," he said. "While we have added a number of new shops, growth from the established business has been strong. We managed to achieve the goal of any omni channel retailer: growth in both shops and online."

Freddie George, an analyst at Seymour Pierce, said that the Olympics have been a "major distraction to consumers". "The only beneficiaries appear to be the food Retailers, the sports retailers (Sports Direct and JD Sports), and Halfords," he added. "We do not see any marked change in this trend over August although sales are up against relatively easy comparatives ( last year the second week of August had the Riots)."

While the warm weather might have dented demand at John Lewis, the partnership's supermarket, Waitrose, said that it saw "strong sales of anything that can be enjoyed chilled in the garden".

Sparkling wine sales were 75pc higher than last year, rosé wine sales 91pc higher and fizzy pop sales were up 32pc. Overall sales at Waitrose were up 13.5pc in the week to 28 July compared to a 25.6pc jump in the same week last year.

Commenting on Waitrose's performance, analysts at Shore Capital said: "The experience recorded by Waitrose, whilst outperformance, should have a much needed albeit short-term favourable read across for its supermarket’s competitors; competitors that have largely been struggling with weak sales momentum comprising negative volumes and negative operational gearing manifested in a string of downgrades to trading profit expectations."